I Spy
by Gleesh
Summary: Short story about how Sten learns the Ferelden game of "I Spy"
1. I Spy

Lothering, a small village filled with refugees and natives, all fearing the worst for themselves as the imminent press of the darkspawn worsens every day. Everyone is at odds, the merchants fight amongst each other for rights to sell, refugees fight for places to sleep, the chantry and the Templars are overstretching their people in order to keep some semblance of peace.

Amidst it all, one lone Qunari prisoner stands meditating quietly in his cell. A cage, would be a more accurate title for his impromptu prison, but with all of the beds in Lothering reserved for residents and refugees, there was nowhere else to put him. Whispers flowed through the iron bars. _Murderer. Massacred an entire farmhold. No survivors. Didn't even deny it…_ and yet none of their words seemed to touch him. He was a stone wall to them, so eventually they fell back to their own woes and left him in what peace as there could be found. Eventually, they consoled themselves, this monster would see his justice at the hands of darkspawn. How fitting.

But the children found him immensely interesting, especially the young boys. Most would spend their days crowding around a small alcove where they could see him easily, but he couldn't see them unless he turned to look. Since he rarely moved at all, the boys had no fear that he would take notice of them.

"joo see 'em?"

"yeah…big, in't he?"

"Mmmm….he's probably some kinda' warrior or somthin'"

"Nah, my Da says he's a murderer. Says he killed all that farmhold _ bare handed_, just because they didn't fix him breakfast in the mornin'."

"Your Da is a lyin' git."

"So's your Ma!"

"Well…I think he's prince."

All the boys turned to look at the person who would have the audacity to say such a thing. Adella Saverone. She was a strange one, having come from a farmhold to the south near the Kokari Wilds with her Aunt and Uncle. Everyone knew her Mother and Father had been killed by the darkspawn not a week ago, but she never cried about it like the other kids did when their family died. She sang songs at midnight, walked around the village carrying this…weird looking doll wearing bright orange. It was so ugly! No one talked to her because she might put a curse on them. She had to know the Witches after all, living so close to them.

"He's a prince, from a far off country. He's come to get something…." She trialed off, biting the end of her finger as she thought deeply.

"You're stupid. He's not."

"He _killed _ people. Princes don't do that."

She wasn't dismayed by their accusations, though, and instead persisted. "No no. He _has_ to be. I mean, why else would he be here?"

"Because he's a dirty foreigner who can't mind his own business?"

"No, because he's coming to be diplomatic. That's it. He's coming to get Ferelden to work together with his country." She smiled as her story fleshed out in her head. No doubt she was adding princesses and dragons, and a harrowing adventure through the countryside.

The boys simply looked at each other as if to say: _There she goes again._ One young boy rolled his eyes, and mouthed "Watch this" to his friends with a mischievous grin. Quickly, he snatched up the girl's doll and ran.

"Hey!" She shouted angrily, broken from her mental reverie. "That's mine!" Off she ran, very quickly. So quickly, in fact, that the thieving boy didn't have time to get very far.

Hearing her footsteps, he turned and looked over his shoulder to gauge how far away she was. Unfortunately, with that one small motion, he overbalanced and fell flat on his face in the dusty path. "Oof! Hey….HEY!"

A small victorious shout was all she allowed herself before she jumped on the boy's back, pounding her fists into his shoulder blades. "Give....it…..back….it's….mine!" She punctuated each word with another punch, not caring that the boy under her was screaming and crying loudly. The others had already run away, but they alerted the nearby adults to the scuffle.

They pulled her off of him, grabbing her under the shoulders. She didn't fight them, though, knowing that justice would soon be served. She'd be given back her toy and all would be well. Except:

The boy wailed. "She…hit…me…and…I…couldn't stop heeeer!" He buried his face into his mother's apron. The woman shushed him and gently stroked his hair.

"Why would she do such a terrible thing?"

"She….she said I was stealing her doll, but I wouldn't want that _ugly_ thing!"

Everyone looked from the boy, to Adella, to the toy lying in the dusty earth. Adella knew from experience what was coming. They would believe the boy – who's parents would back up his oh-so-noble personality – and she would be sent off alone. Ostracized again. She didn't care, though. Once they left her alone, she'd be free to finish her story about the giant prince she'd just made up.

SLAP

It is amazing how much impact the sound of a hand striking a face can resonate. It seemed as though the entire village square became silent at that moment. Everyone stopped to see what would happen next.

The pain didn't come to her at first, only the shock of the blow as Elder Miriam's hand landed on the side of her face. Of all people, Miriam seemed to understand her at least a little bit. This…this was betrayal of the grandest sort. She did nothing. She didn't move. She simply stared at the ground, watching the whorls of dust around her feet.

"Learn your place girl. You'll be left for darkspawn fodder if you keep causing trouble." Miriam's voice was harsh and seemed badly overworked. No doubt she didn't mean to sound as frightening as she did, but there was no helping it. This girl, in the eyes of the villagers, was beyond salvation.

XXX

Adella still stood there in the square silently, as the crowd dispersed. There was no one to turn to, no place to go. Her aunt and uncle didn't care for her as they should, and she was largely responsible for her own food and shelter. She would see neither that night.

She picked up the toy and brushed the dust off of it, knowing that it would be her only companion. Well, it and her giant-

Prince?

He was standing there, in the cage, right beside her. The giant. He was _so much larger_ up close. She had never been this close before. He always seemed to exude an aura that kept people away, but to Adella it was just his royalty shining through. All royalty must have that kind of aura. He was watching her.

"H-hello." She said. She started haltingly, but ended the word strongly. Mustn't let the prince think she was afraid. Or sad.

He said nothing.

"My name is Adella." She tried again.

Still, nothing from the caged-giant-prince.

"MY NAME IS ADELLA." She said louder, thinking that maybe he'd become slightly deaf from the lack of people talking with him.

"I heard you the first time, human." He said.

She shivered. His voice was raspy. It sounded as though he hadn't drank anything in days. It wasn't princely at all. "Why didn't you answer, then?" She asked, curious.

"You did not ask a question," was his answer.

"So….is this a game?" She asked?

"No."

"Oh good, because it wouldn't be a very good game."

There was no answer from the cage this time.

"but you still won't talk to me unless I ask a question?"

No answer

"Hey! I asked you a question! You're supposed to answer!"

"I am not _supposed_ to do anything, human."

Hmm…he'd called her human again. Well, obviously from looking at him he wasn't human. So…what was he, then? It didn't seem prudent to ask him that kind of question, especially if he was a prince. A captured prince. And her skin was still stinging from that slap. But she'd forgotten it already, mostly. "soooo….what's your name?" She came a little closer to him, not daring to get within arm's reach of the bars, but standing close enough so that they could speak without speaking loudly.

"Sten."

"Oh. That's….pretty." What did you call a man's name? Handsome? Fearsome? Sten was neither. It was…well bland, really.

"You did not cry."

"What?"

"You did not cry when the woman slapped you, even though the boy provoked your attack and earned his beating. Why?"

"I…I don't know? It didn't seem to be something to cry about, I guess." She shrugged. "I get slapped all the time by Auntie and Uncle. I guess it's not that big a deal." She wondered why he was asking such a strange question.

"Your friends would not have done the same."

"Oh. They're not my friends." She came a little closer. If she wanted to, she could reach out her fingers and touch the bars of his cage now. "So, you're a prince, huh?" She crouched down and peered up at him.

"No. I am a Qunari."

"What's that?"

"What is a human?"

She thought for a moment. Hm. She was only eight, so what did she think a human was? No one had ever asked her that before. "Um. A human is…a person, with a heart, a brain, and….hair and stuff."

"So anyone without a heart, a brain, and hair is not a human? And everyone with them is? What are elves then?"

Again. How infuriatingly challenging. She wasn't angry with him, but his questions were hard to answer. She wouldn't back down! "Well, I guess they're human if they think they're human, and an Elf if they think they're an Elf." She thought herself very clever with this answer.

"So I am Qunari." He answered stoically.

"Oh." She said. She guessed that her answer was simply that a Qunari was him. He was what a Qunari was. Somehow, that wasn't good enough. "Are you a Qunari prince?"

He sighed. "I am a warrior."

This was unfortunate. That horrible boy had been right. She couldn't let that be true. Nope, this Qunari warrior was still a prince in her mind and her story was the same. "Oh, well, that's good too I guess."

In the distance, she heard her name. Auntie had finally decided that it was too late for Adella to go wandering around by herself. Actually, more than likely, her Aunt had found some meaningless task to do around their campsite. She sighed heavily.

"I've got to go. Hm…I'll come back tomorrow! We can play another game, like the question one!" That seemed reasonable enough. He would still be there. He was there every day. What else did she have to do? No one liked her, and he couldn't get away or beat her up like everyone else did. He was perfect.

Xxx

The next day, she could hardly keep herself from running full force to the cage that Sten was in. She'd resigned herself to using his boring name, but in her head he was always _Prince Sten, of the Grand Qunari Empire_. When she approached him this time, he was muttering something low and steady under his breath. It seemed like a chant of some sort.

"Good Afternoon, Sten." She said. This time, she had no problem going right up to the cage and hooking her fingers around the bars.

He stopped chanting, but his eyes were still closed.

"I SAI-"

"I heard you, child." He grumbled. It seemed like he'd gotten very little sleep that night.

"Oh! Ok. Well, I've thought of a game we can play."

"I do not wish to play games."

"…Oh." She barely whispered her disappointment. Looking at her fingers, she couldn't help but think that maybe if he played with her, he wouldn't be so lonely. Maybe _she_ wouldn't be so lonely.

He sighed deeply. It was like hearing the bellows work at the blacksmith. "You come again today?"

She nodded, still looking downward and speaking softly. "I promised I would."

"This is unproductive. What other duties do you have?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. No one ever tells me anything, so I just go around the village all day, singing."

"I have heard you."

"Oh?!" She was excited again. "Which did you like?"

"I do not know. Your language is difficult for me to decipher."

Again, disappointment. "Oh."

"What is your game?" He asked.

"It's called 'I Spy!'" She enthused, clenching the bars tightly and looking up into his face now. He'd opened his eyes and was looking down at her, but he made no move to go closer to the bars where she was. Even if he was a prisoner of some sort, she knew he wouldn't harm her. She _knew_ it.

"Tell me."

"Ok, first, I say 'I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with….' And then I say a letter. _You_ have to guess what it is I Spy that starts with that letter!" She was so excited, maybe this was something they could play together. It was easy enough. "It will help you understand our words, too!" She said, thinking quickly about what he'd just told her.

"…very well. You begin it."

She was so happy, she turned on the spot, and decided on something to spy. "I spy….with my little eye, something beginning with….C!"

"Cat." He answered quickly.

"Nope!" She said cheerfully.

"…Camp."

"Nooooo."

"Chasind?" This time he sounded a little less sure of himself.

"That's it!" She'd spied the Chasind people standing by the fence. They were talking in low tones to each other, probably about the darkspawn. "Now it's your turn to spy something."

"I spy, with my eye, something beginning with…."

Xxx

The days continued thusly, with Adella coming regularly to spend time with Sten after her morning chores were completed and before her Auntie discovered she was missing in the evening. She was overjoyed with finding someone to talk to, even if he didn't say much beyond their game.

However, one day, Adella didn't come. And Sten had been waiting on his regular interruption. Despite himself, he'd grown attached to the idea of the human child distracting him from being caged up like an animal. And she wasn't afraid of him as the other children were. She clutched the bars of his cage confidently. Confident that he wouldn't harm her, even though she probably knew he could. This kind of trust made him curious about how a place like Lothering could breed a child like her.

He asked the Elder, when she came by on her rounds through the Village.

"Woman. Where is the child?"

She looked disgusted that he would speak to her. "What child?"

"The one that comes every day," he thought quickly to find her name, "Adella."

Miriam furrowed her brow. It was true the girl had been odd, but befriending the monster? That was ridiculous even for her. Still, it did no harm to tell the creature what had happened, and maybe it would add to his despair to know that he would be left alone. "She left early this morning with her family. They are going to Denerim, I believe."

Sten did not ask any more questions from Miriam, so she left. After she had gone and he was alone again, he stepped backward, breathed deeply and began: "I spy, with my eye, something that begins with G."

PLEASE SEE CHAPTER 2 FOR THE EPILOGUE 3


	2. I Spy: Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The Darkspawn had been vicious, but they were all still alive, and the Grey Wardens surveyed the carnage on the road. Lots of wagons had been turned over, burned, ransacked, and bodies of half-eaten humans were strewn around the land.

Sten cleaned his blade quickly of the blood from the darkspawn. There was no telling what kind of damage it would do to Asala, and he was eager to be rid of it before it had a chance to show him.

As he turned to toss the rag he had used amongst the flaming carnage of one wagon, he found laying on the ground something that caught his eye. It was so familiar, yet it seemed as though hundreds of years had passed since he'd seen it.

A doll, ugly, dressed in an orange cloth and dragged through dirt. It was obviously home made, and well-loved. He knew it. He knew the owner of it. He…tried not to look around him as he knelt to pick it up.

The Warden turned to her companions after she'd finished her business examining the darkspawn for any information she could garner. Alistair was there.

"Uck, this was a nasty piece of fighting. We should tell the nearest village of the massacre…"

The Warden nodded, sullenly, not savoring the thought of that duty.

"Poor Sods. Never stood a chance! Women 'n children with 'em…" Oghren sniffed grandly, and warmed his hands in the flames from one of the nearest burning wagons.

"Sten?" She asked, not seeing her third companion until she spotted his large frame kneeling in front of a tree. As he stood, he wiped dirt from his hands. He'd been…burying something? But whatever it was, he didn't indicate. She could rarely tell anything from his expression if he did not wish to share it, and though he called her _Kadan_ she somehow knew that this was one of those things he wouldn't share with her. His hands were empty, save for the smearing of fresh earth that still lingered.

"Let us go. I am eager to be elsewhere." He said gruffly.


End file.
